Could Wausau Become An International Mountain Biking Destination?

Efforts are underway to make Wausau a premier mountain biking destination.

Wausau is already a national destination for skiing, white water competition, and curling. Now, leaders of the International Mountain Biking Association have identified it as a prime location for a new Ride Center.

"Ride Centers are designations given to areas with destination-quality mountain bike trail systems, and Wausau was identified as the top location in the state of Wisconsin to try and establish a Ride Center," says Matt Block, who is on the board of directors of Wausau's Off Road Cycling Coalition.

Ride Centers have well-developed, interconnected trail systems accessible to cyclists of all ages and skill levels. There are only 11 of them in the nation, and only two in the upper Midwest - in Copper Harbor, Mich., and Cuyuna Lakes, Minn. Block says it now attracts tens of thousands of bike riding tourists.

"Cuyuna Lakes [was] established as a ride center in 2011, and last year they saw 22,500 bike visitors. This year, they're already projecting to go over 30,000. That's a pretty significant amount of tourism."

But Block admits it won't be easy to put Wausau on the mountain biking map.

"The first part of the work, of course, is to establish which locations are going to be at the top of our list," he says. "Then we'll have to get land access, and then we'll have to raise money. These trails can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 a mile to build."

Matt Block says it could cost as much as $2 million to make Wausau an International Mountain Biking Association Ride Center. Local riders will start by upgrading existing trails in the nearby Nine Mile Forest.

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